1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum vessel wall element with a fixed flange element, with a separable flange element and with a line running from the inside of the vacuum vessel to the outside, the separable flange element being separably connected to the fixed flange element, with the line being held in the separable flange element and with an annular sealing area being provided between the fixed flange element and the separable flange element.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
The term “vacuum vessel wall element” is used below to refer to the wall of a vacuum vessel or a part of the wall, but also to beamline sections and flange elements that can be flanged to a vacuum vessel or to a beamline using conventional flange connections. Furthermore, the term is used to refer to elements that can be welded into a wall of a vacuum vessel or into a beamline.
It is frequently necessary to cool aperture or target holders in accelerators or substrate holders in thin-film deposition systems inside a vacuum vessel using water or liquid nitrogen. This often results in a complicated layout of the cooling lines that exhibit large dimensions.
With conventional wall elements, provision is generally made in this context for the leadthrough of lines into a vacuum vessel for the flange element with the lines to be connected to the wall element on the side furthest from the vacuum. This means that during installation, the lines first have to be guided through an opening provided in the wall element and then connected to the apertures, target holders or substrate holders, as the spatial dimensions of the cooling line guide are larger than the opening provided in the wall element.
This type of procedure is often associated, however, with the disadvantage that the connections of the lines made after guiding the lines into the vacuum vessel are frequently the cause of leaks with the consequence that a satisfactory vacuum cannot be achieved in the vessel. It is therefore desirable that having to make connections for lines inside the vacuum vessel is avoided when installing a cooling system in a vacuum vessel. A comparable problem also occurs with electric leads, since electrical connections give off gases and can thus impair the vacuum.